FateNeo Stardust
by ecnal nogardnap
Summary: The Holy Grail was destroyed, right? WRONG! Even as you sit there at your monitor reading this, another war is brewing under your nose! How is this different? Weeeelllll, you'll just have to read and SEE! Oh, and don't worry, I explain why at the start.
1. Prelude

Fate/Neo Stardust

_**Fate/Neo Stardust**_

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Fate/Stay Night, it is the property of Type Moon. If I DID own it, this story would be in disc format and could probably be ripped off the internet…XD

**Author's Notes:** This is a prologue I wrote for a roleplay forum I made recently based on Fate/Stay Night. If you have any questions, feel free to PM me. In fact, this is basically a sort of marketing campaign, though if any of the three scenarios I planned advance enough, I just might post more stuff there. On the other hand, I've only got one other member so far…give it a look if you're interested! And if you're here to read, be warned! **Original characters** serve as the main cast even though the original cast of Fate/Stay Night still remain!

_-Fuyuki City, Shiro Emiya's home…-_

Shiro turned the wrench as he fixed up the motorcycle he kept at his home for no apparent reason. Fixing things helped to calm him down…keep his mind occupied…Which was exactly what he needed. He wasn't feeling very calm lately.

For some bizarre reason, he was thinking of the Holy Grail War he participated in. He didn't know why because he personally saw to it that the contest of blood and chaos ended. Destroyed the Holy Grail, didn't he? And Rin personally assured him that the Magus Association did everything they could to get rid of it for good.

So why was it that in his mind's eye he had a bad feeling that something terrible was going to happen?

"Shiro?"

The young man, barely into his twenties, turned and smiled at his adoptive sister of sorts. Illyasviel von Einzbern, formerly the master of Berserker, moved in with Shiro after her servant was defeated. The slowed growth rate of her Homonculus body ensured that although she was a few years older than Shiro, she was only starting to look like a high school student.

The serene white-haired girl smiled.

"You sense it too, don't you?"

_-The Magus Association, Inner Sanctum of the Darkmatter Guild...-_

Seven magi, some middle aged, some ancient, sat in a circle. The dimly lit room was shielded from all manner of observation and sensing, placed in a pocket dimension. For all intents and purposes, they didn't exist in the conventional world.

"Are you MAD? This plot could get us all killed! If the Association gets wind of this-"

"This is perfectly legitimate. Lord Waver had to dismantle the past grail because it was corrupted, correct? We are simply creating a new one. A pure one."

"Maybe so...but have you any idea of how unstable it would be?! And you're proposing to REMOVE the limit of how many servants it can hold?? Such a device would hold enough power to-"

"Grant ALL our wishes! Isn't that what you were after as well?"

The dissident sighed and sat down, rubbing his temples.

"Yes...yes, that's true...but I'm just saying...if the Magus Association learns of this, the consequences would be dire!"

"The Association is not against the war, exactly," a cooler voice retorted, "They simply feared that a corrupted presence was a threat to the world. They have no reason to fear a blank slate, do they? After all, ALL mages want power, and this Holy Grail is a great opportunity to everyone."

The council paused in silence. Some feared for their lives. Others thought of the power within their grasp.

"They'll never agree to the limitless masters..."

"What they don't know won't hurt them. And we simply have to take out any of their representatives who intend to report these...unorthodox...methods. And if we can assure them that we'll be taking personal steps to manage this war, then who are they to complain?"

"The best part is, all our agents ultimately work for US."

"Masters at our command...a steward in charge of the grail...assassins to kill threats to our plan? We are going in deep. If we cross this line, there is no turning back."

"But the rewards FAR outweigh the risks, do they not?"

"...Very well. We shall pledge our full support to this venture. Even if we fully opposed it, you'd only pick us off firstly."

"Then it is decided! I'll send word to the new Overseer at Kotomine church about these rules. The Magus Association may not be thrilled about these rules, but if we keep it from them, our little lamb will soon be plump for the slaughter!"

_-Fuyuki City, Kotomine Church...-_

Caren Ortensia looked through the letter. The azure silver haired lady priest mused over the new rules set before her about this new Holy Grail War.

"I suppose the lack of an evil presence is a good thing...but that still doesn't change the fact that the most powerful wish granting artefact might still fall into evil hands...

"I suppose the wheels have already been set in motion, however...I might as well get this over with..."

Caren withdrew a box which kept the tarot cards. Passed down from war to war, it had seven cards, each representing a different Servant class. This was the means that signified the start to the war. When masters could be summoned.

However, just as she unclasped it, a surge of power shocked her. Caren let the box go and it fell. To her utter surprise, rather than seven cards falling out, the floor was soon littered with cards, and they continued to spill out of the container.

"I have a bad feeling about this..."

_-The world at large...-_

All magi got the notice, barring the top council of the Mage's Association. This was a chance. A chance to show their power, their skill, their magic. This was a chance to win their deepest desires for themselves.

They would not pass it up.

_-And still, in the Magus Association's Space Time Research Department...-_

"So what do you think, brother?"

Two brothers, both with abnormally dark grey hair, sat at a table. The elder thought for a moment, recalling his studies in temporal magic. Then he nodded.

"Theoretically...yes. The initial corruption of the grail? It was predestined to occur at a single point in time. Even if we were to travel back or enter a time loop to those days, it would happen without a doubt: The evil presence entering the grail at that time. It's impossible to redirect it. Any alterations made to time threaten the dimensional fabric. Kindergarten stuff."

"Gee, I didn't know THAT about space-time and its consequences seeing as I AM a SPATIAL mage."

The younger brother's sarcastic outburst made his older brother frown.

"Watch it, Akira. I've got experience on you and I know about both space AND time. You know why? 'cause I'm a WINNAH!"

"Yes, yes, we're all MORE than familiar with that facet of your sparkling personality…"

The air tensed up a bit as the two brothers glared, only for the serious moment to break down as the two of them laughed lightly.

"So, AS I WAS SAYING…

"With the original grail destroyed and the evil dispersed, corruption is not an issue. With the negative energy gone, this grail is as clean as it can get. It's up for grabs."

"Huh...then...I guess..."

"You're not actually thinking of ENTERING this contest, are you?"

One Akira Shirosawa smiled at his elder brother.

"I think I can't afford not to."


	2. Day One

Fate/Neo Stardust

_**Fate/Neo Stardust**_

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Fate/Stay Night, it is the property of Type Moon. If I DID own it, this story would be in disc format and could probably be ripped off the internet…XD

**Author's Notes:** This is a prologue I wrote for a roleplay forum I made recently based on Fate/Stay Night. If you have any questions, feel free to PM me. In fact, this is basically a sort of marketing campaign, though if any of the three scenarios I planned advance enough, I just might post more stuff there. On the other hand, I've only got one other member so far…give it a look if you're interested! And if you're here to read, be warned! **Original characters** serve as the main cast even though the original cast of Fate/Stay Night still remain!

_-Fuyuki City, Shirosawa residence…-_

Akira got up and smacked his lips. It was a nice cloudy day in cool Fuyuki city, and he woke up to the smell of...steamy buns and herbal tea?

Oh. That's right. His servant. Saber has been around for a couple of months and they just spent all their time talking. Nobody seemed to notice considering Akira's popularity was practically nonexistent. The Magus Association was far too snooty and Homurabara High School was preoccupied with its own issues.

The young grey haired man walked to the kitchen, still in his pyjamas, where he was greeted cheerily by a thirty year old servant with a clean cut face. Saber had already mastered the art of dressing up like the times so he opted for green shirts and darker pants. However, he would have stood out in a crowd anyways with his fair complexion, sleek hair, tall height, largish ears and charming demeanour which is why they agreed that he would stay at home.

"Good day, master. I took the liberty of preparing breakfast."

"Just as long as it doesn't have any bean in it, I'm game..." the mage sleepily replied. He sat down, shook his head, and sobered up.

Breakfast was good but silent and soon Akira was dressed in his normal clothes. It was hard to believe that he had already graduated from both institutes of knowledge, though he kept in touch with as many friends as he could. He wondered what he would do today.

"Saber? What are we going to do today?"

"I suppose scout around briefly to see if the war has started, and if not, then we just hang around. But why don't you go see your friends, master? You must miss them terribly."

"Well, not TERRIBLY...and besides, I like hanging out with you, Saber. You're like the ultimate buddy."

"Oh. Thanks. You're a good master too."

When two guys give each other compliments like that, an awkward silence usually follows. Which it did. Until Akira broke it.

"SO! Why don't I bring my friends over here? We've got enough room, and you might be interested in meeting them. We could say you're my...uncle...or something..."

"Oh, I couldn't possibly do that. Exposing more people to my existence gets them involved in the war," the dark haired and handsome servant modestly replied.

"Don't say that, I know that you love company as much as I do. But for now, I guess you're right. I'll scout around."

_-Meanwhile, at the airport...-_

A blue haired girl stepped off her plane, got her luggage, and looked up places to stay in the city. She had only recently summoned her servant because she wanted to make sure that her Caster was a damn powerful one.

"Why don't we look up that old friend of yours, uhhh, Shiro-something?"

The servant, in spectral form, was invisible to the naked eye but Allison had to be careful to not be seen talking to herself.

"Firstly, that's Shirosawa. And no, I couldn't do that. It'd just get him involved in this."

"I don't see why not. After all, he is a skilled spatial mage like you said, is he not? If worse comes to worst, he could always run away with a portal."

"Please. He won't leave his friends just because a servant attacks him."

"This friend of yours is sounding dumber by the minute..."

"Hmm. No arguments there."

She sneezed.

"I HATE this weather!"

_-And in Fuyuki city...-_

(Author's note: Following was written by another member. I'll post these where they're needed)

The Rothschild family was legendary among the Mage types. It produced mages of the highest calibre, knowledgeable in all arts and servants who changed the course of history all single-handedly. They were clever, they were sharp, they were the perfect mages.

They lost every Holy Grail War.

This War they had sent young Artem. Actually, it had been less sent and more "Well crap, he's got the best Servant lying around and all the other mage families would laugh at us if he didn't go! Wait, wait, hold on child, there's lint on your shirt and your hair's messy and straighten that tie..." So and so forth.

Artem strolled through the streets of the busy Fuyuki city with relative ease. He kept his pace slow, his step mostly springy and slightly crooked and a hint of laziness, but for the most part he looked very casual. No attention was paid to him, and it's not like his voice would have been heard over the bubbling city's orchestra of cars and people and everything else.

"Artem, the letter from your sister said something about heading toward the park. I notice you're headed the opposite direction." Said his servant, who was wearing a heavy coat to cover his true identity; again, this went unnoticed.

"Yeah, yeah, it also told me to get new underwear and make sure I shave every day and do this, and do that, and..." Artem trailed off, bored just by thinking of his family.

"Interesting. So you suspect a preemptive attack as well?"

"Now I do." Artem grinned. It paid to have a servant much more capable than he was.

(A.N.: Following was written by me)

Elsewhere, a grim figure walked the streets of the city flanked by a younger, cleaner cut figure. The cloaked man trudged through the district, looking to his left and right, giving everyone a thoughtful look. Everyone else, in turn, uncomfortably turned the other way or remembered some pressing business.

"Kage."

"Yes, master."

"Did you perform the preliminary reconnaissance?"

The strict and brooding figure awaited his answer from the emotionless partner.

"Yes. Though I am confused. Were there not only seven masters involved?"

"That is correct..."

"Yet from what my servants and I have gathered, I have spotted or sensed over three different summoning rituals of varying types. What's more, Assassin detected that two of the major families already had their homes prepared for war, so that must mean they're ready. Rider even found and terminated a Lancer himself, and we were each scouting out a different sector of this city."

"Just as I feared...those elitists weren't kidding when they informed us of the new rules...still, this possesses some potential...

"Right. A change of orders. If you see any sufficiently weak teams, you are permitted to take them out if you see the chance and have the means, whether it's the master or the servant. Do what you have to do to attack the weak spot. However, when either of your servants reaches half his mana capacity, fall back and recharge with the transfer techniques I taught you.

"You know where my family's estate is. Fall back there to regroup or if an emergency arises. And remember, always be on the lookout for information, especially for powerful servants or masters. The more data we have, the more detailed our battle plan becomes."

The two stopped at a junction with three spiritual figures accompanying them. Kage bowed to the strategist with sincere respect.

"Master Takeda. I shall take my leave."

Yamato Takeda allowed himself a smile of respect for his devoted partner. He turned and walked off, his keen mind starting to anticipate situations...

_-And in some other place...-_

_(A.N.: Following was written by mangafreak 7793 and edited by me)_

Inside the massive city of Fuyuki city there lived a small four storey house in a secluded part of the city. There were rumours which said that the two residents who lived there were a powerful Mage and her slave. Actually they were a Master and Servant fighting for the Holy Grail

But some parts of that rumour might have been true...

"Bigfoot marrying Werewolf…" muttered a brown haired 16 year old girl with silver eyes, a T-shirt and a long skirt who was reading the magazine article with her thin glasses as she sat in a comfy chair in front of a fireplace.

"THAT'S TOTAL BULL!" she yelled as she ripped the article into little pieces and threw it into the nearby fireplace.

"There is no such thing as Bigfoot, so this is something that could never happen…"

"Master, I'm back," said a 17 year old man as he walked in. He was wearing a black hakama and a long cloak over his head.

"I brought some grocer..." Before he could finish the sentence his face met a "reinforced" drop kick

"Where the hell were you, Assassin! ? It's been barely a month since I summoned you, yet you went outside without your master's order! What happens if you were attacked by an enemy servant? !"

"But Master, you know I have the Presence Concealment ability, which disguises myself as a servant, and the Disengage ability, which allows me to escape from battle…

"Besides, I didn't feel any enemies from here to the supermarket," Assassin said as he rubbed his face but was soon flat on the floor as his Master's foot was on top of his head.

"NO EXCUSES, YOU SHOULD HAVE TOLD ME BEFORE YOU LEFT!" she screamed as she began to stomp her foot harder into her servants head but stopped as she went by the fireplace and went into a kneeling position.

"God, what did I do to get this weakling servant which can't even withstand a simple kick from his own master…" she prayed to God.

_She calls that a simple kick..._ Assassin thought as he shivered at the thought of her full power kick. Unfortunately, his mouth began to speak automatically and he said these taboo words.

"But didn't you say that God wasn't real since it wasn't proven?"

At that time his master slowly turned her head around and suddenly began stomping on his head again.

"DON'T-CRITICIZE-ME-YOU-BAKA-SERVANT!" she said, stomping her poor servant's head with every word.

"Master, I beg of you, if you kick me any harder than now, I will see your pan-pan-panties…" Assassin said as he muttered the last words as his head began to steam out as he was swinging in and out of consciousness.

The master took a few steps back as she began to push her skirt down as she looked with a blushed face.

"You saw it."

"No, I did not Master…", he said, trying to calm her down with the fountain of blood which was his head. He couldn't say much more then that.

"GO TO HELL, YOU PERVERTED SERVANT!" she yelled as she pulled out a couple of bottles from her t-shirt pockets.

"Wait, Master!"

"DIE!"

And with that there were many explosions within that small four storey house. It was now an everyday thing for the Master Aminami Watsuki and her Servant Assassin.

_**Author's notes:**_ Thanks for reading! If you wish to learn more of characters, visit my site and take a look at characters! Also, the part with Artem was written by a good friend of mine. The last part with the comical Assassin was written by mangafreak7793. Like I said, I had to edit the grammar somewhat. He needs to work on it a little, but he's got some potential. Join us next time for what you wanted to see: Servants beating the shit out of each other!


	3. Battle Royale

Fate/Neo Stardust

_**Fate/Neo Stardust**_

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Fate/Stay Night, it is the property of Type Moon. If I DID own it, this story would be on the PS2 as a game…XD

**Author's Notes:** Well, here we are, and I've finally gotten around to being responsible and changing this thing here! I've got two members thus far, though not much posting at the moment. This chapter, get ready for MADNESS! Madness? THIS IS THE GRAIL WAR! On another note, anything having to do with the Rothschild children was written by my friend Jordan. Things involving characters named Thomas, Aminami, Mizu and Takimi were written by mangafreak. Action scenes were written the way they would be in an RP. Everybody else is, for the foreseeable future, written by me.

Two men walk into a singles bar. They knock back a few and flirt with some fine ladies. The ladies kick them out and the duo start arguing with each other over the use of pick-up lines. The taller more masculine man sticks to his guns by saying that the book he read guaranteed success while his shorter companion retorts that NOBODY says 'Jamaican me crazy' anymore, least of all to a JAPANESE woman.

Taller man snorts and turns his back while the shorter man regrets ever accidentally summoning this jerk...

_-Meanwhile, at the docks, in a warehouse...-_

A sword clanged against three spears and slammed them down. The servant known as Blue Saber, dressed in his regal dark blue robes, tangled the tassels of the spears. He quickly stepped over the spears and slashed at the servants.

One of them had his throat slashed open and he died instantly. His body and blood started fading into nothingness.

The other jumped back, grabbed his spears, and held them up.

"Villain, you will pay for killing my brother!"

"Please. You don't even stand a chance. You could barely defend yourselves with a two to one advantage and you can't hope to stand against me alone."

Yamato Takeda stepped forward, arms folded behind his back.

"Why don't you give up?" he asked the master who still had a servant, "Just get yourself out of this war and forget you were ever involved. There's no need to throw away your life foolishly."

The master who lost his servant readily ran away out the back door. The other one stood defiantly.

"Not a chance! You're ruthless and need to be stopped!" the master defiantly cried.

"Hmm. Yes. They said that of a few great visionaries."

The Lancer, dressed in Eastern armour, charged with his dual spears. He stabbed them at Saber, one after the other, from various angles.

Saber kept his cool. He simply leaped back, out of the spears' range. As the servant advanced, Blue Saber flashed his sword once more. With each swing he effortlessly parried a thrust or a swing. As soon as he saw an opening, he kicked the Lancer away. As Lancer staggered, Blue Saber dashed forward and swung his sword again.

Lancer regained his bearings, however. He jumped up, avoiding the slash, and attempted to jam his spears into Saber's shoulders.

Saber just calmly batted the spears away with a casual slash, expanding as little energy as possible to achieve a maximum effect. Lancer crashed into the ground with a groan and Saber slashed at him.

The servant had to roll out of the way but jumped back up, lances at the ready.

"You're a tenacious little insect, I'll give you that."

"How can you be so calm?!"

"By using my brain."

With a roar, Lancer focused his energies. This was it, his last ditch effort. He was going to win with his Noble Phantasm or die here and now.

"Liang Shan Er Qiang!" he shouted. Actually, the move wasn't voice activated, but he felt the need to dramatically shout it out loud.

The servant rushed forward, his spears jabbing in what seemed to be hundreds of places at once. Each blow gave off tremendous energy that could have shattered a brick wall. However, Saber was ready. He expertly waved his sword about, precisely intercepting and redirecting each blow. And for some reason, the longer the Noble Phantasm was carried out, the less brilliant its aura became.

"Interesting. You're using multidimensional refraction charged with vast amounts of mana in each spear," the bearded and moustached servant calmly observed. His sword was glowing ominously with each blow blocked.

"WHY! WON'T! YOU! DIE!"

Lancer ran out of mana and had to finally settle for locking weapons with Saber.

"H...How...how did you...?" he weakly asked. Saber smiled smugly as his sword glowed a brilliant blue.

"Very well. I'll explain. This sword of mine, besides being extremely powerful, absorbs mana with each blow and soaks up whatever is left in the air. So you see, expanding so much energy against me was probably your biggest mistake, Lancer."

"I..can't..let you...!"

"Sorry, but you've lost."

Saber effortlessly pushed Lancer back and swung his sword in a downwards cleave. Lancer tried to defend himself with both his spears, but the sword that had just soaked up an entire Noble Phantasm was too powerful. It cleaved through both spears and left a long and fatal slash right down the middle.

As Lancer dropped dead to the ground, his master shouted out "NOOOOOOO!" only to be killed instantly by a well placed throwing knife.

Yamato looked up and saw his partner Kage. Obviously, he was responsible.

"I thought I told you not to leave any bodies, Kage."

"He knew too much about Blue Saber, master Takeda. I beg your forgiveness but you gave me permission to act as efficiently as possible."

"I suppose. But be certain nobody can trace that dagger to you...we don't want anybody tracking us down...In the meantime, get to the park. It's the perfect place to gauge how powerful and how numerous our competitors are."

With that, the agile man in a suit jumped down and landed deftly on his feet. Blue Saber simply gave an arrogant laugh and cleaned his sword. Part of the mana left over was absorbed by him.

"It's a shame that they couldn't provide a challenge for me, but I suppose the easier this war is, the better. Right, master?"

"That's right, Saber. Now come. There is still much work to be done."

_-The city park…-_

The breeze picked up as Artem approached the relatively building-free park. He looked around at the various people at play, complete with barking dogs and crying children. Musashi tensed.

Artem caught Musashi's eyes shifting about out of the corner of one of his own.

"Yeah?" He asked, also glancing about suspiciously. Together they probably looked like an incredibly big target, but the fact that Musashi let out a surprisingly small presence helped.

"There's something...off about this. I don't think your sister would fight here, where she might be revealed. She's smarter than that."

"You'd be surprised." Artem grumbled. She'd do anything to beat him, and destroying a park didn't seem like much of a sacrifice at all.

Meanwhile, on a bench a few moments walk away from the Rothschild duo, was his sister. Her servant was not summoned at the moment. A battle was not what she had come looking from ehr brother...No...

She was looking for victory.

_-Some other place…-_

On a warm bright day a boy with dark blue haired boy was leaning next to a tree. He was taking a nap from the drawings that he made on a sketchbook which laid on his chest.

"Thomas-kun, wake up please " A Green haired girl with shorts, a sleeveless shirt and a sash over it, as her light green eyes reflected over the sun light.

"Thomas-kun, Wake-- " The girl repeated again but was cut short when a small cucumber was stuffed into her mouth .

"Kap-pa... " The boy muttered as he talked in his sleep.

"Thomas-kun, WAKE UP " The girl yelled loudly waking up the poor boy.

"Huh, Oh hi Mizu, I thought you were a kappa for a second " Thomas said as he handed her another cucumber.

"Thomas, For the 178th time, I'm not a Kappa and even though your blind doesn't changed that fact " Mizu said with a deep blush on her face as she took the cucumber and began eating it.

"Partially blind " Thomas corrected.

"Sorry."

"By the way, where's Takimi-sensei and caster " Thomas asked

"Well, Taki-nii is sleeping since he was staying up too late while patrolling the city and as for Caster, OH NO " Mizu said as her eyes widened at the last part of her sentence.

"Thomas-kun, we need to go now " Mizu said as she grabbed the boy's hand.

"Where are we going " Thomas asked as he was forced to run

" BACK HOME, Its a big emergency " Mizu answered the boy

As they reached to the house they opened the door took off there shoes and ran past the hallway towards the backyard. Where they were a light blue haired 17 year old boy in a white robe and a 16 year old red-haired boy with wrappings over his left eye was attached to a small rocket.

"Oh, you're here for the fireworks?" The light blue haired boy asked

"Caster, Why is Taki-nii attached to the rocket " Mizu asked the servant

"Oh, I just wanted to wake him up since he's out like a light " Caster said as he tapped Takimi's face a few times

"…please...don't...kick...me...anymore..." Takimi muttered in his sleep as if he was having a nightmare

"There are better ways to wake him up you know " Mizu reasoned to the servant

"Well, there are but I'm bored and this seems fun " Caster smirked leaving Mizu with nothing to counter with

"Thomas-kun, please order your servant to stop " Mizu turned to him hoping to stop this madness

"Where did you get the rocket ? " Thomas asked as he walked towards it

"Trade secret " Caster answered

"Then lets see it blow up " Thomas said excitedly which made Mizu fall down.

"THOMAS-KUN!" Mizu yelled annoyed

"Hey, don't underestimate this guy " Caster said as he pointed at Takimi with a evil grin on his face

"When I was his teacher I put him into situations far worse then this."

What did Taki-nii go through ?? Mizu thought frightened of the actions of Thomas's servant

"And besides Mizu if Takimi-sensei gets too injured this gives you a chance to practice your healing magic " Thomas reasoned towards the girl

"I..I guess…"

"THEN LETS FIRE IT UP " Caster said loudly as he lit the fuse causing the rocket to fly up in the air

"TAKI-NII " Mizu yelled seeing her brother fly up in the sky

"He's really flying " Thomas commented as he saw bright light in the sky

So the day ended for the Master Thomas Rootburg, his Servant Caster, and his friend Mizu Ricker Honoo as they watched the bright lights of the fireworks as well as the floating body or in this case " corpse " of Takimi Honoo

_-The comfort of the Shirosawa residence…-_

Akira knew that he should probably be scouting the city, but firstly, no master would be foolish enough to cause a scene. Secondly, he was just plain lazy. So he did the bare minimum possible with his magical abilities.

Concentrating, Akira deployed his mana and opened a rift in space small enough to not be noticed yet big enough for his eyes to peep through. He concentrated the other end on the city and before long a suitable view was provided.

Thus far, nothing was going on, and like Akira suspected, no masters or servants were around at this time of day when he had already ordered a pizza. However, when he focused on the airport, he noticed a familiar sight walking into a cab. He directed his portal and...

"Hey Allison!"

"GAAAH!!"

The sudden voice and portal were startling enough for Allison Alster. The fact that it was Akira and that it was in an anonymous cab made it even more surprising, considering that she didn't want to get him involved and was absolutely certain he didn't know where she was.

"WHAT are you DOING?" she hissed quietly once the cabby had turned his attention back to the road.

"Oh, you know, I was just spending the day looking in cabs with my magic like I always do..."

"I'm serious, Shirosawa!" the blue-haired beauty said through gritted teeth.

Akira sighed and nodded.

"Well, I WAS looking around with my magic. Just so happened that as soon as I checked out the airport, there you were walking into a cab...nice fur, by the way. What'd they have to kill to make it?"

"It's ARTIFICIAL!"

This outburst prompted the cab driver to turn around with a raised eyebrow. All he saw back there was the girl and a sort of foggy patch on the window...he needed to wash his cab.

"Miss, is anything wrong?"

Allison gulped nervously.

"No, no, everything's fine, I'm just...uh...rehearsing lines for a play!"

"Whatever..."

The cab driver continued driving to his predetermined destination.

"Look, why don't I get to the point, Allison. This is just chance. Why don't we meet up in town or something and catch up?"

Allison sighed but let out a small smile.

"If it'll get you off my back, sure."

"Right then. With that, I bid thee farewell."

The portal closed. Akira turned to Saber.

"Get into spectral form. We're going out."

"And risk detection?" the older person asked in astonishment.

"It's an old friend. Besides, it's an opportunity to do more scouting, right?"

"I suppose...But if we get ambushed, I'm putting the blame on you!"

_-The park, later that night…-_

Night fell on the park. Most people had dispersed, leaving only the nervous joggers and even more nervous pickpockets behind them (getting caught would be most undesirable for them). Artem and his servant lounged about on the aprk benches, or at least in the case of the former. Musashi was sat quite upright, not so much vigilant but simply being himself. Which was vigilant.

Ironically enough, on the bench a mere path-length away from them, sat his sister. her servant had just been summoned with the utmost discretion. It wasn't enough to avoid detection, however; a generic Master had caught wind of this and was eager to put his own Servant to the test. He approached, grinning stupidly with his hulking excuse for a servant in tow...

"Halt." Musashi's commanding voice, er, commanded.

The Master paused momentarily, heavy coat swishing abck and forth quite generically. The Rider gave an angry grunt. Not exactly what he had been aiming for but this one seemed even weaker than the servant-less Master. He grinned and pointed.

"A duel it is." Musashi nodded, and cast of his coat in true style to reveal the baggy, white samurai clothing underneath with his school's name sown in Kanji on its back.

Artem watched with a smirk from his position against a tree trunk. The Rider charged on its generic chariot, waving a spear about with all the excitement of a three year old left unsupervised in a petting zoo. Suddenly, he jerked on the reigns and leaped from the chariot, hurtling toward Artem, spear first.

A wakizashi caught him in the side, compeltely halting his momentum and sending him crashign violently to the floor.

"All too predictable." Musashi let out a slight laugh, brandished his remaining Katana and took up a croching stance. Two quick strokes. That's all it would take, he told himself.

Rider growled again, charging spear first once more at the other servant. With perfect precision, Musashi let the spear glance off the side of his katana, using the Rider's own momentum to knock it off balance. As it stumbled, an vertical slash caught it in the side, crippling it.

Its master let out an unhealthy gurgle.

"What now, Artem?" Musashi asked.

"...Good question." Artem muttered, brushing off his pants for show and coming out of the tree's shadow.

And then a hole opened up underneath the master, swallowing him whole and closing with a comedic burp.

"You eliminate the competition." Announced a cold, cruel voice Artem was all to familair with.

"Annie. Great to see you."

_-In another section of the surprisingly vast park…-_

The park at night was deemed the perfect place to duke it out for several reasons, some of them vastly different from one another.

Skilled masters thought it would be quiet and inconspicuous so that they wouldn't draw attention to themselves.

Less practical minded masters believed that it was the ideal place to show off their moves. Just like in anime! How ironic.

Whatever the case, Kage was there for the same reasons he was anywhere: Firstly, to scout out the area and the condition of the war. Secondly, to take out any unsuspecting masters if he could. No matter how uncomfortable he was, sitting crouched on a tree branch, there was enough foliage to keep him from being found, and Rider was causing enough of a ruckus to draw attention away from him.

For all his obnoxiousness, this servant couldn't have worked out better for him. So far he interrupted one duel between two cliched characters, joined a three way fight not-so-commonly known as a 'truel', making it a 'fuel', and had done admirably in a free for all. He had trampled a servant and a master under his chariot's wheels and his horses' hooves, slew a servant by first throwing his spear and then making a passing slash with his gladius, and impaled a Rider in a joust. The fact that weapons only dented his skin made thing even better and Rider got out of his fights with only a few scratches and slashes caused by A-rank weapons.

Of course, his shenanigans and loudness undoubtedly drew attention. Civilians were inevitably slain by more ruthless servants or the crossfire, masters either ran away or got themselves involved, and soon the park, once tranquil, became a battlefield for a battle-royale.

Kage was concerned, though. Despite the fact that Rider was racking up an impressive kill count and that he himself was hurling blades at masters within his range (noting with dispassionate eyes that he killed each of his targets), the battlefield had grown too large too quickly. Worse still, it had already halved in size. Not even his servant and he could kill that many servants that quickly or that easily, especially now that Rider had thinned the herd until only the stronger servants remained. Master Takeda wasn't around either, so that meant that he had no help in this battle.

Furthermore, he sent Assassin to scout the area for strong servants and report back to him. The fact that his skilled ninja was nowhere to be found amidst the chaos of the royal rumble was extra disturbing. So he came to only one conclusion.

There was at least one powerful servant. One that could tip the scales. Worse still. It may be working with others, coordinating their attacks.

_-Away from the battle...-_

Elsewhere, Assassin was troubled. Between spells launched by Caster which seemingly took up no mana but instead seemed directly influenced by the gods, and with a Saber named Musashi, he was already in hot water.

His Yagyu sword training, Hōzōin-ryū spear fighting and Iga-ryū ninjutsu had no effect on the swordsman. No matter how instantaneously he switched weapons, no matter where he threw his shuriken, Saber was ready to deflect the attack. Sudden assassin strokes and rapid spear thrusts were all blocked or dodged with minimum effort.

Only his peak agility kept him from being sliced open or blown to dust fourteen times over. Apparently, either the two were working against a threat, or they thought Assassin was inconsequential.

Assassin's spear clashed with Musashi's katana, but the ninja was shoved away. He backflipped to dodge a lightning bolt from Caster and threw a few explosives at the scholar, only for all of them to b e blown by a gust of wind. The explosives smashed into a dead tree and caused it to topple over. As it looked to crush Musashi, the Saber simply drew his swords and turned the whole thing into firewood. Neat firewood too, the sort made from precision swordsmanship you only get in campy training sequences in martial arts shows.

The black-clad ninja teleported a short distance and attempted to deliver a palm thrust towards Musashi. Hopefully, his spiked palm knuckle would be able to catch him in the face. Unfortunately, a skilled judo manoeuvre simply threw him across from Musashi and into a tree.

"Perfect..." Assassin muttered with uncharacteristic dryness, "He's a martial arts expert."

_-And of course, to build up events and lead to the eventual free-for-all between significant characters, coincidentally just outside the park…-_

Two figures walked and laughed as they reminisced days long past and days not-so-long past. Allison and Akira had gotten together for tea and hanged out for awhile, recounting the old days and what they were up to these past few days.

Of course, neither the blue haired genius mage nor the grey-haired manipulator of space admitted themselves as Masters in the bloodiest battle of magic ever.

"-So then my brother speeds up time JUST as he's taking a bite, and the guy ends up eating a five year old sandwich!"

"You're JOKING!"

The two friends laughed. Allison was glad she got to see her friend again. He was one of the few not to be intimidated by her reputation of excellence back in the Academy and they soon became fast friends. However, that thought saddened her as she wanted to get him away as soon as possible for his own safety. The Holy Grail War wasn't the place for a pseudo-hippy like Akira.

Akira, on the other hand, was enjoying the moment and the company of his friend. Given that she was one of his few constant companions, he ha grown somewhat attached to her. Besides, she reminded him of his brother, to whom he was very close.

Saber felt the presence of a servant close by but couldn't seem to detect it, partly due to the fact that Caster's spirit form was far more advanced, and partly due to the fact that his own spiritual senses weren't as sharp as the Caster's.

Caster, on the other hand, was perfectly aware that his master was consorting with another master. Unfortunately, he had been given specific 'instructions' to not disturb her unless it was life-threatening. The old man, clothed in a shaggy white beard and sky-blue robes, sighed at the foolishness of mortals and the attitude of youth these days who didn't listen to their elders, not like back in the dark ages where it was 'do as I say or you get sent to the winery as cheap labour there's a good lass'.

The two masters paused at the park. Both were aware of the sounds and had sensed the strong emotions. Murderous intent, various feelings of justice or devotion, and some plain weird ones like a craving for vegetables. It was clearly not ordinary, especially at night, where the park was just PERFECT for a duel of servants.

"Listen, Akira..." the girl began hurriedly.

"I gotta go," her friend interrupted suddenly, catching her by surprise.

"Yeah, me too," she replied after a second's hesitation.

"I've that thing at home..."

"Need to finish unpacking..."

"And what with the whole time-space continuum thing."

"I really need to work on my extra studies."

The two nodded, shook hands, shared a smile, and quickly parted ways, thinking that the other would just go home and leave the arena while they waited a few minutes before entering the fray.

This would be a wild night.

**Author's notes:** Well, here we are! We've had a bunch of fights quickly escalate into a royal rumble, and not the watered down type you get on TV wrestling! To summarise, it all started when Artem and Musashi fought a random Rider, then they started fighting his sister Anastasiya and HER servant Caster. Meanwhile, Kage, under orders from Yamato, got there with his Rider who was beginning to kill things left and right like the Spartan king Leonidas, until he realised that Assassin was missing and the battlefield thinned surprisingly quickly. Finally, our redoubtable goody-two-shoes Akira and Allison had a reunion cut short and now each seeks to enter the park from a different angle.

The cannon fodders are going to be swept away! Important people will duke it out in all-out combat! What will be the outcome from this eventful first day?? Find out in the next chapter as soon as we post some more! And feel free to join my site if YOU want a piece of that action!


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